Despite recent cold temperatures, the sun is shining brighter and longer and the heat is being absorbed by water below the surface, melting ice from the bottom up.

So officials from the state of Vermont and the U.S. Coast Guard are warning that even if a surface seems solid it is likely weakened significantly. Warmer temperatures forecast over the next few days will degrade the ice even more.

It is best to assume that no ice is safe.

Vermont emergency management says the best way to avoid trouble is to avoid the ice entirely until next winter.